To be open-hearted is to be a giver but also a receiver. To give and to receive in the flow of everyday life is a means of achieving balance, a means of release, and a means of acceptance. To learn to truly be open-hearted is the goal of a warrior. A warrior is always on a path of truth, a path of respect, a path of kindness, a path of openness, a path of heart. Test your own open-heartedness a little bit more each day. Relax your body and your mind and breathe into your heart chakra with the intent of letting go of all that your mind constantly intrudes with—the doubts, fears, and tall tales of untruth—and allow the door of your heart to open a little bit more. Certainly all have the ability to do this, but do you have the nerve? Are you ready to be vulnerable and to experience others as vulnerable. For this is what will happen as you become open-hearted; you will become both a giver and a receiver of vulnerabilities and innocence. Try it and see.
Soulbyte for Saturday January 2015
Enjoyed a nice sleep in on this snowy Saturday morning! Though a little later than usual, here is today’s Soulbyte:
Be careful how you speak to yourself, how you think about yourself, how you perceive of yourself. You are not just your physical body, but far more. You inherit DNA from the beings who channel you into life, but your spirit is wholly your own. No one else has ownership of or command of it. And so, though your body may sometimes frustrate you, annoy you, and challenge you, your spirit will always guide and support you. Sometimes this guidance from spirit comes in tricky ways, for it may need to be creative to alert you and lead you along, but in the end it will always have your best interests in mind.
Your body is the costume that you wear through that life and it must be taken care of, listened to, and kept in good condition so that your inner life may flourish. If your concentration is solely on body self you will miss out on knowing the far greater spirit self, for beyond the body costume is the expanded self who knows all, is connected to all, and seeks only your accompaniment on the journey. To be in balance is to become more fully aware of the truths of body self and spirit self. Body will be fine if spirit takes over. Can you let it?
Chuck’s Place: Alzheimer’s & The Journey Of The Soul
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
The rational sensibility of the modern world observes the deterioration of the brain with Alzheimer’s disease and questions the validity of the soul. In effect, it asks the question, “What is left to ascend after death, when clearly there appears to be a total dismantling of the personality as the disease progresses?”
All religious systems, nonetheless, propose that a soul, an ethereal essence, separates from the body and continues to live after death. Hindu scientists have an elaborate understanding of the composition of that soul, or what they have termed the astral body. According to their findings, our abilities to think and feel originate in the astral body. The astral body, or soul, is intimately connected with the physical body; feelings are experienced in physical sensations and mental processes are connected with the brain. These two bodies, physical and astral, are inseparable except in dreaming, shamanic journeying, and in severe trauma, when the astral body—though still attached to the physical body—separates and goes off on its own journey.
Shamans utilize dreaming and journeying to explore life beyond the body, as they prepare for life after death, for the moment when the astral body completely separates from the physical body.
The Tibetan Buddhists, as outlined in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, have identified several bardos, or in-between worlds, that all humans encounter shortly after death. In the bardos we are all confronted with unresolved issues from our lives. Our ability to resolve, or not attach to these issues in the bardo states allows us to progress deeper into our soul’s unfolding journey in infinity. However, this cosmic recapitulation process in the bardos may require many lifetimes before we achieve true freedom. Alzheimer’s, as I see it, is the beginning of that cosmic bardo adventure, begun while still living in the human body, offering the opportunity to engage in recapitulation.
With the deterioration of the brain during Alzheimer’s, the astral body is freed to enter the bardos and deal with deep issues, as it is freed of engagement in the affairs of daily life. Deterioration of personality in this world in no way reflects loss of self, it simply reflects a breakdown of cognitive functioning connected to the physical body.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
The mental and emotional self is fully present in its astral travels and is deeply engaged in working through karmic issues with souls from other lives, as well as those who have already crossed over, whom one was associated with in this life. Alzheimer’s offers an individual an extended opportunity, while still in human form, to resolve issues of many lives, with the added benefit of possibly breezing through the bardos after real death, moving quickly into higher spiritual realms. What appears in physical form as a difficult to manage and heartbreaking pathological disease, in spiritual form is actually an opportunity for great healing and advancement.
Relatives of Alzheimer’s patients are often treated to stories of these adventures in the bardos when the Alzheimer’s traveler is in lucid moments. He or she may speak of adventures with relatives and other beings in the astral realm. And, yes, some of those encounters with entities in the bardos realm can be quite terrifying, as patients might report their terror at feeling robbed or attacked, or having met evil or monstrous beings.
Nonetheless, if we can value their experiences as coming from layers of reality that we are unable to witness, rather than simply dismissing them as hallucinations, we might be granted glimpses of life beyond life. Not only are we offered valuable insight into what we will all one day encounter as we enter the bardos ourselves, but we are able to support our loved ones as they deepen their soul’s journey in infinity, preparing for their final launching.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
Looking at Alzheimer’s from a different perspective,
Chuck
I wish to thank Elmer Green, PhD, brain researcher and pioneer of biofeedback, for his insight into Alzheimer’s as he took the journey with his wife, Alyce, learning what she was encountering on her trips into the bardos. You can hear him talk about it here: The Ozawkie Book of the Dead He mentions his findings about Alzheimer’s within the first few minutes and goes into it in greater detail throughout the recording. It’s well worth listening to!
Soulbyte for Friday January 23, 2015
Think before you speak. And when you do finally speak, speak from your heart, letting go of all regrets and blame, so that your words are full of wisdom and grace. To be a compassionate person takes practice and mindful attention to what impact you will have. Words, especially, have impact. You may not know how another will interpret them, and so how you speak your meaning and intention must be clear and concise. Do not waste your words, simply talking to fill silence. Silence is the food of higher power, and the higher self is sustained by silence. Be reverent in moments of silence and patient as well. Let silence speak its own words of wisdom and then wait to see if you need to add anything. Let the energy of silence be your guide and mentor. Let it enter your heart and speak thoughtfully, with words of truth, wisdom, love, and compassion. In heart-centered speech will you know and experience the meaning of kindness, gentleness, and grace.
Soulbyte for Thursday January 22, 2015
When the moon is full and bright, what do you see? When the moon is new and only darkness greets you, what do you see then? Do you notice that whether there is moonlight or darkness does not matter, the deeper issues are equally present? Are your issues clear to you yet? Or are they hidden in the darkness of self?
The mind is a tool. If used properly it can aid you on your search for clarity of self and for greater meaning in life. If unattended, left to its own devices, it may only serve to confound you. Which type of moon is your mind, full and bright, shining clearly, or hidden from sight, working behind the scenes of awareness?
To hone the mind, no matter what moon phase it is in, is to take charge of your life. To become aware is the goal of the seeker. To know the self fully is the work of a warrior.